IT’S EASY TO forget how many paranormal news stories are reported with a year until you see a roundup like the one following. And these are just the top stories; there were many, many more, proving that 2012 was another remarkable year for the unexplained. There were ghost sightings, ghost pictures and video, dozens and dozens of Bigfoot sightings and lots of alleged Bigfoot pictures and videos. There were also many sightings of lake monsters, chupacabras, and other undefined crypto-creatures. There were reports of psychic phenomena, work by psychic detectives, stories of exorcisms and miracles… and a lot more, as you’ll see in this roundup of the entire year.

Workers at the Manchester Arms pub in Hull’s Old Town claimed to have captured a ghost on video. A grandmother was astonished when a photo from her granddaughter’s christening seemed to show the ghost of her late husband. And reporter Vanessa Bolano was working on a story about a haunted plantation when she discovered a ghost on film. Then some said a ghost appeared in a photo taken at the Stansted pub.

Ghost hunting.Grant Wilson explained why he left the Ghost Hunters Syfy show. And a ghost hunter died after exposure to bat and rodent droppings during an investigation.

Life after death. A University of California, Riverside philosophy professor, John Martin Fischer, was awarded a $5 million grant to study life after death. And two quantum physics experts claimed that near-death experiences occur when the soul leaves the nervous system and enters the universe. A woman claimed that her dead son was guiding her hand to send her messages from beyond the grave. Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil analyzed brain activity of spirit mediums.

PSYCHIC PHENOMENA AND PROPHECY

Prophecies. December 21 came and went without an apocalypse or advance in human enlightenment, nullifying any fears about the Mayan calendar. NASA did its best to debunk the prophecy, but mild panic arose in some places.

Mind over matter. A woman in Pittsburgh stunned doctors with her ability to control a robotic arm with her thoughts alone.

Psychic phenomena. A Forest Lake mum won $1.3 million in Gold Lotto after a psychic prediction. Remote viewers in Nevada helped solve a California murder. A US intelligence officer revealed that a psychic was used to track spy Jean-Philippe Wispelaere during a secretive operation.